I.N.D.I.A. bloc meeting: Ahead of the INDIA bloc's meeting in New Delhi, the Trinamool Congress, a major player in the coalition, called on the Congress to abandon its "Zamindari culture" and focus on promoting senior leaders such as Mamata Banerjee as the prominent face of the alliance.
Banerjee, the leader of the Trinamool Congress and the Chief Minister of West Bengal, is currently in New Delhi for a meeting and has expressed her view that the bloc's candidate for the Prime Minister's position should be determined after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
'Shun Zamindari culture...'
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, "The Congress, after its defeat in the three states, should take lessons from it. It has to shun the Zamindari culture. It can't treat its partners as its subjects. To ensure that the INDIA bloc wins, it must make Mamata Banerjee, who is a three-time chief minister and three-time union minister, and other senior leaders the face of the INDIA bloc."
The Congress contested alone and faced defeat in the assembly elections in the Hindi heartland states, namely Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, against the BJP recently.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the grand old party's performance, Ghosh said, "The Congress has repeatedly failed to defeat the BJP. On the other hand, the TMC under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee has the record of defeating the BJP umpteen number of times."
West Bengal Congress on TMC remark
This comment prompted a strong reaction from the West Bengal Congress unit, with spokesperson Soumya Aich Roy stating, We don't need lessons from the TMC on how to fight against the BJP. It is the Congress, which has been consistently fighting against the BJP, unlike the TMC which on several occasions has compromised with the saffron camp."
As per TMC sources, the party is keen on accelerating discussions on seat-sharing, shaping a unified narrative, and concluding the manifesto to pose a credible challenge to the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In New Delhi, Mamata Banerjee announced that the prime ministerial candidate for the INDIA bloc will be determined after the 2024 general elections. She expressed confidence that the alliance will address issues, including seat-sharing, and successfully challenge the BJP.
She dismissed suggestions that the alliance has lost time in organising things, stating, "It is better late than never," and expressed confidence that the formation of an alliance is possible in West Bengal among the TMC, Congress, and the Left.
Her remarks also drew sharp reactions from the CPI(M) and the Congress in the state. "The TMC has hardly any role in seat-sharing as it does not have any presence in other states. And in West Bengal, all of us are aware that the TMC and BJP are two sides of the same coin," CPI(M) MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said.
The Congress and the CPI(M)-led Left Front are contesting polls against both the TMC and the BJP in the state, he said.
I.N.D.I.A bloc's fourth meeting
The fourth meeting of the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc will be held on December 19 in Delhi. It held its first meeting in Patna on June 23. Its second meeting was held in Bengaluru on July 17-18 and the third in Mumbai between August 31 and September 1, where the 27 parties had adopted resolutions to unitedly contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The fourth meeting was scheduled on December 6 but was deferred as several opposition leaders including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and former Uttar Pradesh CM and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said they would not be able to join.
During the meeting, the parties would chalk out plans on seat sharing, for holding joint election rallies and would evolve a common programme for them.
The meeting takes place against the backdrop of the Congress' disappointing performance in the recently concluded assembly elections, facing significant defeats in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile, the BJP has asserted that the public has reaffirmed their trust in "Modi's assurances" and is poised to re-elect his government in 2024.
(With PTI inputs)
